Thursday, September 13, 2012

Offering Gadget's Xyz monsters get legal!

I said before that I'll post about my best bet in the new asia format (pre-EXP2012) which is Offering Machina Gadgets. It has consistency in its draws, apply of pressure, trap power, albeit in the Asia format it loses its boss Xyz monsters and one of its best support monsters - Tinplate Goldfish.

HOWEVER...

It has been going around that Konami lifted its ban of promotional card products for use in the Asia format except for the exclusive Duel Terminal cards that were only supplied to Japan. This news came from DSummon of DuelingDays whom is also a Konami Asia Judge so we might as well believe this is true.

This solves the biggest problem in Asia format Gadgets which is what Xyz monsters to use in situations that Giganto X and Machina Fortress cannot solve. This was the limiting factor to Asia-legal Gadget decks. There's no other move besides spamming Fortress with insane advantage and hiding behind traps.

They now have access to powerful Rank 4 monsters such as Shock Ruler, Black Corn, Kachi Kochi, and Inverz Roach. They are still missing Emeral, Merrowgeist, Gem Parl, and Ouroboros since these are DT exclusives, but still, having even just Shock Ruler changes the gameplay of Asia Gadgets.

Now the next problem would still be the loss of Tinplate Goldfish.

This monster + Giganto X were the ones responsible for Gadgets getting to Tier 1.

Put Dual Summon into the mix and you add more consistency in having that GigantoX on your 1st turn.

Plus, Tinplate + Dual Summon is a sure way to summon that Shock Ruler! It can also fetch you a Fortress on your 1st turn even if you didn't draw a Gearframe. There are a lot of moves you can make with 3 normal summons in a row. This is why having a good Extra Deck is important.

Without Tinplate Goldfish, you still have that Dual Summon. But now you have less chances to do your 1st turn GigantoX and, without Ultimate Offering or Monster Reborn, it's unlikely that you'll be able to summon that Shock Ruler from an empty field. We'll need a replacement for it... there's two things i have: a simple answer; and a complicated one.

1. Photon Slasher

This card was used before GigantoX was around as you don't really have a reason to use Goldfish. It is easy to summon and with great ATK. This is way better than Cyber Dragon in this deck. You cannot use it to make a GigantoX but you can save it for when you'll need problem-solver Xyz monsters or to spam 3 Lv4s in the field. ALSO, remember that Thunder King Raioh is now legal too and Slasher is an easy out to it.

2. Chain Summoning

This card lets you summon 2 more times in the same turn. OP, right? However, it has a hard requirement as it needs to be in Chain Link 3 or higher to be played. You can do lots of moves to reach Chain Link 3. Remember that when you summon a Gadget and activate its effect, you are already in CL1. You only need something to chain to your Gadget then use Chain Summon.

Let's simulate some chain builds.

CL1 Gadget >> CL2 Opp's Veiler >> CL3 Chain Summon. (This is a cool play as long as you have another Gadget or Gearframe inhand)

CL1 Gadget >> CL2 Emergency Teleport >> CL3 Chain Summon*thanks to Wslasher for reminding me* Now we're talking some crazy sh1t combos with Machines. Making Burei to spam more Burei/Bureido using those extra Normal Summons isn't to be taken lightly. :)) It'll take a lot of testing to make a good mix of Gadgets and Karakuris though.

There's a monster that can also help you build CL3 and it is Kagetokage. This monster will chain its own summon on the Gadget effect and from this you can play your Chain Summon. This monster IS dead on its own unlike Photon Slasher but, considering you are using Chain Summon, you'll need all the free chain links you can get. Goblindberg can also be used to make easy Rank 4s but I didn't like it since it lets you miss the timing on your Gadget effect.

You can also rely on Turn 2 strategies to make Xyz with the help of Tragoedia, Giant Rat, or even Machina Armored Unit (believe me, I tried using this, haha). But we are aiming to make GigantoX on turn1 to make a bigger impact.

These cards can help you make that Rank 4 you need

So that's it! For me, the Rank 4 Xyzs are the strongest of all the Xyz monsters and, currently, the Gadget deck is the best deck to abuse them. Well, that goes only until EXP 2012 gets released though, haha, as Wind-Ups will take the cake on spamming Lv 3 and 4 monsters at will. Enjoy Offering Machina Gadget!